Switzerland/ Austria

Hi all
So I was kindof dissapointed I couldn't update this yesterday but there was absolutely no wifi at our hotel. :(
Well we had a long busride from Strasbourg to Switzerland, but the view was gorgeous. Then we had 2 hours of freetime to shop in lucerne!!! We also had to find our own lunch somewhere- luckily everyone spoke English so it wasn't hard to communicate with people. Bought some famous Switzerland chocolate yesterday- they wouldn't let you test anything though do idk if it tastes good or not!!! The mountains here are unbelievable- really they are outstanding. I can't describe them - they are beautiful. Then we took a ferry ride on a river through the mountains and ate dinner.

This morning we drove to innsbrook- a little town in Austria and made afelstrudel (sp?) it was sooooo good :). At lunch, steffano, our bus driver, who only speaks italian, decides to sit with us and just speak all in Italian. We were all quite entertained- specially when I tried to speak back to him using the translator book Mrs. Stephan gave me... By the way thanks for that it has helped me
A lot :). Good times
Then in Salzburg, we got to our hotel and got dressed up for a classical concert. The violinists were really good... But most people were struggling not to fall asleep- I'll admit- me too. But at intermission, I went to the bathroom and when I was done I tried to get the door open (the locks are very weird in Europe and the doors go all the way to the ground) but I couldn't!!!! I was literally locked in the bathroom for 10 minutes, feeling really closterphobic, people laughing at me- LOL but finnaly my leader talked me through how to get it open. I thought it was hysterical though!!!!
Tomorrow I get to meet my homestay family! So excited but everyone else is freaking out- idk why.
Miss you all! :)

Chilled day

Hey everyone! Sorry about yesterdays post- I literally had 2 minutes left of Internet time that I paid 4.50 euros for one hour over 30 days. This hotel in strasbourg has free wifi though so I'm so excited!!!! :)

To catch you up on yesterday, yes it was a crazy day- kindof unorganized and we had a lot of bad luck- including getting split up on the subway, our bus broke at the beginning of the day so we walked several miles around Paris... But it was still amazing b/c I was in Paris France. OMG thought of you all at the top of the eifel tower. Sooo before getting here I thought we were getting our own tour of the tower... Wow I was wrong... You wouldn't believe how many people were there it was insane!!! Ate the best icecream ever while walking down!!!! Wow best days of your life :) Then walked 2 miles to the metro and it was about 9 pm before we ate dinner!!!! It was spaghetti- seriously I think I've eaten more Italian food in France than the traditional French food...which Is ok because the only food I think is good here has been Italian- dad you would like the food because they eat a lot of hard boiled eggs! ew :p

So today I had to get up early- 6am because we had a seven hour drive on the newly fixed bus to Strasbourg France. Beautiful town- I may like it better than Paris- it just feels more like a home and safer... But still with amazing shopping stores!!! Went inside gorgeus catethedral - notre dame of Strasbourg. Amazing :)
Then people went swimming in the rain at the hotel- but I along with several others were cold and were instead entertained by our Italian-only speaking bus driver and other funny things.
Having a great time- sorry I can't call you that often because my calling card doesn't work- hopefully it will in another country but otherwise it is expensive to use my credit card :(
Miss you all!!!!

Love Emily

Crazy day

Bus broke down today... Used subway-sweet! Went to top of eifel tower! IMF awesome! Ttyl running out of paid Internet time sorry!

Paris day 2

Hi all!!! Today was an incredible day. Woke up at 7:30, ate cereal for breakfast, boarded the bus for a tour around Paris. Our tourguide showed us all the amazing sites and stories that go with them. Then I got to get a real feel for Paris as we walked through the streets. They are very narrow and crowded...it can be difficult to cross the crosswalks sometimes. People are crazy drivers-I don't think I could handle driving here. Also something you don't think of is that the streets are very dirty-filled with trash and the bathrooms are tiny- I will def. miss am. bathrooms:)LOL. We also saw the notre dame cathedral, went a little shopping, then went to the louvre to eat lunch in the foodcourt. I had frances version of pizza- pretty much the same. Then we got to see the artwork-hey jas, there are a lot of naked things here!!! LOL!!! But you gotta remember its art. I saw the mona lisa and other famous stuff. Then they let us loose on groups of 3 to shop!!! Omg so much fun... Of course we don't know where to go but it was fun looking around. I learned how to say a little in French "merci" is thank you. French like it when you speak their language. Then we walked up many stairs and had a great view of Paris...they let us loose again and I went into a beautiful catholic church and sat and prayed and thanked God for this experience. Amen! Then we ate dinner-I thought the appetizer was egg, but it really was fish- GROSS omg!!!! but know that i didnt order that- i had no choice cuz everybody gets the same thing. But I ate some good beef for the main course. Then we got on the bus to go back to the hotel, where nobodys calling card works which stinks but hopefully it'll hey figured out. Wow today was amazing!!!!!
Well tomorrow I'm pumped b/c I'm going to the eifel tower!!!! Wow

In Paris!!!

So we landed in frankfurt germany around 9am this morning... Then went through customs again to fly to Paris. Flights were very smooth, had decent food and overall went well. Watched 17 again on my 9 hr flight and barely slept :p Got into Paris around 1:00pm and rode the bus to the palace of versaille! Sooooooo beautiful OMG it was simply incredible. Inside was all gold and phenomenal paintings ...all of Frances royal monarchy. Then we walked outside to the gardens ...never seen anything like it in my life! The weather is absolutely perfect here it is BEAUTIFUL!!!! Seriously can't believe I'm here :)!!!!!!! I don't like French food so far but I've tried everything...you won't believe I ate duck for lunch today. It tastes like chicken-that wasn't bad but the egg was nasty:p!!!

Tomorrow I'm going to the notre dame cathedral and mona lisa!!

God bless you all!!!!! :)

In Detroit

I'm sitting in the Detroit airport waiting for my 6:00 9 hour flight to Frankfurt!!! Had a yucky chicken nugget meal at mcds but I was soooo hungry!!!! Saw mom and dad hold a sign to me as they stalked our bus...just kidding they were driving to PA
One hour till departure!!! :)

Today's The Day!

aaaah! Can't believe I'm leaving today! That's crazy!!!! I definitely did not sleep last night but thats ok. :) Well I can say that I'm almost finished packing...Moms picking up some last minute stuff at the store for me-thanks mom :) Then at 12:45 I'm meeting in Kalamazoo the 40 other students who are going with me-we'll get on the bus to Detroit-then my flight to Frankfurt leaves at 6pm!!
Again, I'll try to keep this up to date everyday...keep checking back :)

Goodbye Michigan!!!!!

Peaceout :)